RE: Recommended whole-house audio dist amp?

["BUTLER, Tony, FM" <tony.butler@xxxxxxx>]

Okay, that's not hugely helpful, so here goes:

www.kat5.tv if you want details on Keiths stuff.

 

Current Uk options for multiroom audio include Linn knekt and QED Systemline.

 

Linn go the KAT5 route, with a central switch, balanced audio run over cat5 to remote receivers, remote amps, and remote in wall keypads.

You can expand from 8 sources to 8 rooms, to 8 sources into 16 rooms, to (8 or 16?) sources into 256 rooms!

Linn is horrendously expensive, and you only get the full benefit if all kit is Linn (eg you can see on keypad which radio station is playing, which CD track is playing etc).  With other kit, you get one way IR control or control from the keypad if Linn support the device.

There is no integration with anything else.  Linn keep a tight lid on their system :(

The big advantage of Linn over QED (KAT 5 has this advantage too) is that the quality of the end product is dependent on the source equipment and the amps you choose, not the multiroom kit per se.  So kiddies get cheap 'n cheerful 10W amp & speakers in thier room, and the lounge has a 1000W motherf**ker and 8 grand nautilus speakers :-)

 

QED's system line is a central amp feeding speakers in 4 zones.  They do remote keypads too.

This is a lot cheaper than Linn, though still a good couple of grand to put together.

The end result is wholly reliant on the quality of the QED amp.

 

At the end of the day, sound quality may not be so important to you. I am no audiophile, but I went the Linn route because it seemed more flexible and I _might_ become an audiophile in my old age :)  None of the sources are Linn (yet) so I don't get the full benefit, but it's still pretty good.

 

NB:  Neither of these does video :-<<<<<<

 

Keiths system does.  Once the switch is done, this would easily replace the Linn in terms of no of devices, flexibility etc.  Okay, so no funky 'Radio 1' display on a keypad, but the added benefit of distributed video far outweighs the need for that!

Also, it would probably cost the same to do the whole house with KAT5 as it costs to do 1 or 2 rooms with Linn.....

 

HTH,

 

Tony

 

-----Original Message-----
From: BUTLER, Tony, FM
Sent: 01 February 2002 09:29
To: 'ukha_d@xxxxxxx'
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Recommended whole-house audio dist amp?

All together now......

"WAIT FOR KEITH'S KAT5 SWITCHER" :-))

 

Tony

-----Original Message-----
From: psghome2002 [mailto:psghome@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 01 February 2002 09:09
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxxSubject: [ukha_d] Recommended whole-house audio dist amp?

I'm still pondering what to go for in the way of a whole-house audio
(and video?) distribution amp. I need 4+ zones, pref 6+. Controllers
running off Cat5e with IR receive would be good too and some way of
patching in and overriding/mixing any zones audio with a paging
signal (such as announcements from HomeVision/PC etc) would be good.
I'd prefer a central amp running to remote speakers.

I've looked at Kustom/Nuvo units from www.kustom.com which look good
but haven't found supplier in UK yet (or US supplier that will ship).

What do you use? Any recommendations / 'steer clears'?

Thanks,

Paul.



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